Ruptly
"Students, parents and locals held a protest outside the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Suwayda, calling for the right to sit examinations locally - rather than be forced to travel to Damascus - in footage from Monday. It followed a decision by the Ministry of Education in the transitional government to relocate exam centres centrally - which some claimed was 'punishment' for the region's demands for autonomy. Video shows demonstrators with banners including 'The people of Suwayda urge the Suwayda Education Directorate to hold exams in Suwayda', 'Education is a fundamental right, not a tool for pressure or collective punishment', and 'We will sit our exams on our mountain'. Socrates Nofal, a member of the Right to Self-Determination team in Suwayda, described it as 'collective punishment' for the region. "Today, as students from Suwayda, we demand our natural right to sit our exams safely within our governorate, and we categorically refuse to sit them outside the governorate," said Liqaa Shalhoub. One mother, Rania Ghazali, said she wanted the "United Nations and the international community to intervene." "Students in all other governorates sit their exams within their own governorates, except for those from Suwayda, who are required to travel to Damascus. These are the very same people who came and killed us, slaughtered us and burned our schools," she alleged. "Are we supposed to go and sit our exams there, whilst they threaten to slaughter and kill us?" On Thursday, Governor of Suwayda,Mustafa al-Bakour said he would arrange for the transport of students to and from examination centres outside the governorate. Last month, the Ministry of Education of the Syrian Interim Government issued a decision to hold the basic education and general secondary school certificate exams for students from the Suwayda governorate in Damascus and the Damascus countryside, with the aim of "guaranteeing students' rights and ensuring a suitable examination environment". Exams for the Basic Education Certificate and the Preparatory Sharia Certificate are scheduled to begin on June 4, whilst exams for the General Secondary Certificate on June 6. Last year, the province of Suwayda witnessed fierce fighting between Bedouin tribes and local Druze groups - with Syrian government forces intervening - and the deaths of around 1,895 people from various sides There have also been media reports of violence against civilians from the Druze, Alawite, Christian and other minority groups. The current transitional government took power in Damascus in December 2024, with Ahmad al-Sharaa subsequently appointed as Syria's transitional president, promising to form an inclusive government. "
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